My girlfriend and I relocated to the Mid-West in 2016, and have recently bought a house in Limerick.

Louise and I met when we were both doing a Masters course in Project Management in UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School from 2014 – 2015. It was a classmate who set the seed for a move to Limerick. She was already working in Dell Limerick and offered a great insight into both the company and lifestyle.

Luckily, having been referred, we were both offered positions in the company, starting on the same day in February 2016.

I have always lived in Clondalkin, Dublin, apart from one year in London, so the move to the Mid-West is a nice change of scenery.

I originally studied my undergrad in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Trinity College from 2003 to 2007. Over the years, I have changed careers a few times from Engineering to Event Management and now Logistics Project Management.

Having returned from London in 2010, I took what was intended to be a part-time role in an Event Management company in Dublin. This quickly turned into a full management position, which I held for four years. Over this time, I managed hundreds of projects and events across a portfolio of clients. While fast-paced and exciting, event management is very demanding. Working 60-plus hours a week is hard to sustain in the long term. Also, it was a smaller company with a career ceiling. As I felt I had gone as far as I could with the company, I made the decision to work towards joining a multi-national in order to further my career. This was the primary driver in undertaking the MSc in Smurfit.

Myself and Louise – who works in Global Services Organisation – are enjoying our new lifestyle and careers in Limerick. There’s plenty of opportunities at Dell; we have both been promoted within our first two years and we’re feeling pretty settled here. We’re currently putting the finishing touches on our house and are looking forward to having family and friends come to visit.

We were lucky to be able to buy a new-build house in a great area in Castletroy, just about a 10-12 minute drive from work. Overall, the process of buying the house was relatively straightforward. From speaking to friends, I think buying in Dublin at this time is more difficult. Given our budget, we would have had to compromise on size or location to buy in Dublin. The cost of living is much more manageable in Limerick.

When we moved to Limerick, we rented a house in Dooradoyle for the first 18 months. The location was great, with only a seven to eight-minute drive to work. When looking for a place, the rental scene was quite competitive, but certainly not as expensive as Dublin. The commute from Castletroy, even though we are now slightly further from work, is easier than when I was working in Dublin city centre. I drove a motorbike in Dublin as it was great for getting around in heavy traffic. With the bike, I got from Clondalkin to the city centre in 25 minutes, but for anyone doing that journey in a car it would probably take about an hour.

I feel the lifestyle in Limerick is more relaxed. People here generally have more free time than those in Dublin; I think that’s mostly down to the reduced commutes. Compared to Dublin, Limerick is small, but there is still lots to do and there’s always a great atmosphere when you’re out. It’s also easy to get around and there some great bars and restaurants. Limerick also has the added benefit of being close to the beauty of the west coast, only an hour from Galway and less than two hours to Dublin. The proposed motorway between Limerick and Cork will only add to this connectivity. It is evident that Limerick as a city is currently attracting a lot of investment, which can only mean great things for the future.

Overall, Louise and I are very happy here, so we’re planning to stay for the foreseeable future.

Collins McNicholas Recruitment & HR Services Group would like to thank Robbie Thackaberry for writing this guest blog as part our MidWest Relocation blog series on living and working in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. For job opportunities in the MidWest, contact our Limerick office HERE